


ghost story

by imposterhuman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Assassin Bucky Barnes, Assassins & Hitmen, Break Up, Bucky Feels, Bucky needs a hug, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Hopeful Ending, Identity Porn, No Fluff, Reconciliation, Tony Feels, Tony Needs a Hug, Unhappy Ending, got prompted for a second chapter so here goes, only angst, tiny bit of fluff, winteriron
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2020-10-26 15:30:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20744492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imposterhuman/pseuds/imposterhuman
Summary: Toni knew that the Winter Soldier was no ghost story.He was a whisper in the intelligence community, the highest threat level that an assassin could have. Nothing could be pinned on him, not in a way that would hold up in court, but he was credited with hundreds of kills in his years active. His MO was long-term reconnaissance, often inserting himself into his mark’s life, gaining their trust, just to kill them.Toni, with her status making her catnip to assassins and kidnappers alike, should have known better than to invite Bucky Barnes into her life. She should have known that nothing good ever lasted, not for her.But finding the Winter Soldier in her bedroom, pulling off his muzzle to reveal her boyfriend, was still a shock to her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [desitonystark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/desitonystark/gifts).

> for tcnystcnks on tumblr: "for the dialogue prompts: #2- you aren't who i thought you were"
> 
> enjoy!!!

Toni knew that the Winter Soldier was no ghost story. 

He was a whisper in the intelligence community, the highest threat level that an assassin could have. Nothing could be pinned on him, not in a way that would hold up in court, but he was credited with hundreds of kills in his years active. His MO was long-term reconnaissance, often inserting himself into his mark’s life, gaining their trust, just to kill them.

Toni, with her status making her catnip to assassins and kidnappers alike, should have known better than to invite Bucky Barnes into her life. She should have known that nothing good ever lasted, not for her.

But finding the Winter Soldier in her bedroom, pulling off his muzzle to reveal her boyfriend, was still a shock to her.

“Toni!” Bucky tried to hide the metal behind his back, but Toni had already seen it. “I didn’t think you were coming back so soon.”

“What the fuck was that?” she ignored his words, taking in the rest of the scene. His hands were dark with something- probably blood- and the Winter Soldier’s trademark goggles were pushed high on his forehead. There was no doubt as to what she was saying- as to what he was.

“A… uh… costume?” he tried.

Bucky was a good liar, but Toni was  _ better _ . It took a liar to read another liar, and she could read him like a book. “You’re the Winter Soldier,” she said bluntly, daring him to deny it. 

“I am,” he admitted, swallowing nervously. 

His identity wasn’t the worst part, she knew. She was a genius; she knew why he was with her, why he had asked her to coffee and kissed her so sweetly and moved in with her with promises of a future.

“I’m your target,” she whispered, a fragile thing, waiting to be broken.

Bucky nodded sharply. “You were.”

“How much of it has been real?” Toni demanded, tears choking her.

“Toni, I-”

“How much?” her voice cracked. It was fitting; she was cracking, too. “Was it real when you said you loved me? Or did you say that just to get my guard down? Because congrats, Barnes, you fucking did it!” She spread her arms in invitation, grinning wildly. “Do it!” she shouted. “Kill me! Don’t be a coward, shoot!”

Bucky flinched, face paling. “Toni, doll, I would never,” he begged her to understand, but Toni was done with him and his lies. “Toni,  _ please _ .”

“Kill me!” she repeated. “Finish your mission, Soldier! Then you can go out and get your next idiot target to fall in love with you. Just finish it, Barnes.”

“No,” he shook his head. “I won’t. I love you, Toni. I’m not going to lie and say you weren’t my target. But then…” he shrugged. “I fell in love with you. I can’t hurt you, Toni. I won’t.”

“You already have,” Toni said, disgusted, each word hitting its target like a knife. “You aren’t who I thought you were. You aren’t the man I fell in love with. Get the fuck out and don’t come back.”

“Toni, please, I-”

She felt her masks falling back into place, regaining her composure even as her cheeks were damp with tears and her voice was hoarse from shouting. “Don’t make me remove you,” she said dangerously. “Because I will, and trust me, it will  _ hurt _ .”

“Oh, baby,” Bucky smiled softly, sadly. “It already does.”

Her eyes flashed. “ _ Good _ ,” she hissed, giving him her back. 

Toni didn’t feel it when Bucky left the room, didn’t hear his footsteps or the jingling of his dog tags as he walked. He was a master assassin; of course she couldn’t hear shit. She laughed to herself, cursing herself for being so  _ stupid _ as to let Bucky in.

When JARVIS announced that Bucky had left the building, Toni let herself fall apart. She’d pick up the pieces later; pick herself off the floor, smear concealer on red eyes from crying, choose the right lipstick to smooth lips bitten bloody, and wear a suit tight enough to keep all the broken bits of herself together.

After all, there was no one who was going to do it for her. Not anymore.

Toni was alone again.

(She wished the Winter Soldier had completed his mission.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for 2 anons on tumblr, one who prompted "im supposed to hate you" from my prompt list and another who asked for a continuation
> 
> enjoy!

“I’m supposed to hate you for what you did,” said Toni, an unreadable look on her face. Bucky watched as she stared at a point over his left shoulder, like looking him in the eyes was too painful. He felt like the lowest form of garbage.

They were in a coffee shop, in the kind of public place that if he killed her, he’d be hard pressed to escape. He had no doubt that Toni chose it on purpose with that in mind. Behind her, he counted three separate cameras trained on his face and he didn’t doubt there were more. Toni was wearing a new watch, one he’d seen her work on when they were together, that unfolded into a wrist gauntlet. 

Bucky didn’t even have a knife on him. He didn’t need one to be lethal, but it was the principle of the thing. If Toni wanted to hurt him, he wasn’t going to fight back. He loved her too much for that.

Three months hadn’t dulled his feelings or his pain. He’d hurt Toni more than he could fathom and he knew he could never make up for it. Her throwing him out was what he deserved, but it still hurt like a knife to the gut. He would know.

He still woke up reaching for the left side of the bed, only to find it cold and empty. He still made two cups of coffee out of habit, one with sugar, one without. Living without Toni was like living without the best parts of himself.

It had stopped being a mission for him after their first real kiss. He’d gone to his handlers that night and reported it a failure, and gone back to Toni the next morning. But he couldn’t deny that he’d met her, seduced her, because she had been his target.

“I’m supposed to hate you,” Toni repeated, voice dull. Bucky heard the hoarseness of tears hidden behind her endless strength. 

“And do you?” he asked quietly, like a man at his execution. He bowed his head, waiting for her judgement.

Her words were like the fall of the axe.

“No,” she whispered. There was something broken in her admission. “I want to, but I can’t.”

Bucky raised his head just as she shifted her eyes to meet his. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her face and take her pain away, but that wasn’t his place anymore. Instead, he cleared his throat. “What do we do, then?” he gave her the choice; he had taken enough from her already.

“We can’t start over,” she said bluntly, marshalling her expression. “I can’t forget that you were going to kill me. That I was your  _ target _ .”

He flinched, but he knew she was pulling her punches. If she really wanted him hurt, he’d be dead on the floor at her feet. “I quit,” he blurted out. Slower, softer, he continued, “I told my handlers I was done, that I wanted out.”

“And are you?” Toni looked at him like she was looking through him.

It wasn’t as simple as in or out, black or white, but Bucky had enough connections and pull to make his problems disappear. There would be no more handlers for him, that was for sure. 

He nodded. “Yes.”

“I can’t forget,” she shook her head again. “No matter what you do now. I can’t.”

Bucky couldn't say his heart didn’t sink, but he put on the best reassuring smile he could. “I know, doll,” he said, the pet name slipping out like habit. He hated it a little bit, the reminder of better times. “And you don’t have to. I can never say sorry enough for what I did. Nothing I do will be enough to make up for it, but I promise, that as long as you let me, I will try. I-”

“But I can forgive,” Toni finished softly. Bucky fell silent, hope hammering a painful pattern in his chest. 

“You can?” he breathed.

“It won’t be like before,” she warned. “I’m not going to let you in that easily. If you want this, if you want  _ me _ , it has to be at my pace and no faster.”

“Understood,” he said fervently, smile threatening to break his cheeks. “Toni, doll, I will do whatever you want to prove to you that I love you. I still love you.”

Tears spilled down Toni’s cheeks, but she smiled back. It was tentative, fragile, and more guarded than Bucky would have liked, but it was a start. “I know,” she whispered.

It was a start, and that was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos make me a happy girl
> 
> drop me a prompt on my tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)!

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos make my day!!
> 
> send me a prompt on tumblr [@imposter-human](https://imposter-human.tumblr.com/)


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